11. INCIDENT COMMUNICATIONS/GENERAL OPERATING GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 11. INCIDENT COMMUNICATIONS/GENERAL OPERATING GUIDELINES 11.1 GENERAL This section outlines general incident communications that affects both Fire/Rescue and EMS. Specific service communications are found in Section 12, Section 13 and/or Section CROSS SERVICE NOTIFICATION Incidents in which multi-service (Fire and EMS) support is needed (i.e. motor vehicle injury accidents, rescues and fire incidents with EMS needs), the Communications Center will be required to provide the appropriate informational updates to all responding services. This update will include the number of injured, scene conditions and other pertinent information such as specific unit response. Once on-scene command is established, this information will only be relayed upon Command request MUNICIPAL INCIDENT COORDINATION It is expected that Fire/EMS officials and police officials in the common response areas have a mutual understanding of all matters related to incident mitigation within their areas POLICE ALTERING OF RESPONSE REQUESTS Any requests from a police officer for sending additional apparatus, reducing dispatch response of Fire/EMS apparatus or requesting apparatus to alter their response to the scene of an emergency will be relayed to the Fire/EMS officer in charge who will determine the course of action. The activation of sirens, pagers and dispatch procedure and criteria have been formally established. If any problems arise concerning established procedures or criteria, those involved must resolve the issue directly and not implicate the Communications Center. 1

2 11.5 INCIDENT COMMAND An incident command shall be established on all incidents. Incident command consists of procedures for controlling personnel, facilities, equipment and communications. The Cumberland County Incident Command standard follows NIMS, the National Incident Management System as set forth by the Homeland Security Presidential Directive, HSPD #5, and Management of Domestic Incidents, implemented by Cumberland County Resolution, May 26, A single communications point of contact between the Incident Commander and the Communications Center will be established. The requirements for establishing a radio command channel can be found in Section CHAIN OF COMMAND The following chain of command will be recognized until such time that Command is assumed by a responder if the local Chiefs fail to respond. Traffic Units will not be questioned during any Fire or EMS events reference any Fire or EMS operational decisions. Various chain of command policies exist within the different municipalities. Coordination must occur among the municipalities so that the proper chain of command is followed when mutual aid responses occur. A. Municipal Chief, Municipal Assistant Chief or Municipal designated Duty Chief for incidents occurring within their municipality. B. First due engine company officer or designated Duty Chief (per Section 4.4). C. Second or subsequent due engine company chief or their assistant chief. D. Truck/squad company chiefs or their assistant chiefs. E. First due company apparatus (excluding traffic units). 2

3 11.7 RESPONSE MODES This section defines the general response mode announcements used in Cumberland County. Authority for the uses of warning devices are defined in the PENNSYLVANIA VEHICLE CODE. Specific excerpts of this code are located in Appendix VIII of this Communications Procedural Manual. 11.7A Standardized Response Mode Announcements - Fire & EMS A. Non-Emergency - will be assumed as responding with no audible or visual signals operating. B. Emergency - will be assumed as responding with audible and visual signals operating and assuming that the driver is exercising those special privileges as needed and in a manner that insures due regard for the safety of all persons. C. Caution will be used to alert responding companies of an unusual or hazardous condition occurring which may affect responding units. An acknowledgment will be required by units affected if the Communications Center warrants it. D. Placed In-Service/Units Held - The Communications Center will place in-service or hold units at the direction of the OIC. When units are placed in-service by the Communications Center, units that are still responding emergency and not onthe-scene will be called and an acknowledgment will be given to the Communications Center. Only exception to this will be when the Communications Center is under an extreme call load. Apparatus placed in-service which is on-the-scene will not be called individually, but will be collectively advised by Box Number without acknowledgment. E. Class 1 = ALS/BLS Response Emergency Class 2 = BLS Response Emergency Class 3 = BLS Response Non Emergency F. Announcements of response changes will be done with acknowledgements when appropriate on the assigned Ops talk group and over Fire 1 for personnel responding without 800 radio capability. This may not be done whenever Fire 1 is busy. 3

4 11.7B EMS Response Modes - Specific EMS response modes to medical incidents are defined by the Regional Medical Council (EHSF) to be in compliance with Act 45 of 1985, The Emergency Medical Services Act, as amended. The response mode is determined by the Medical Priority Dispatch System as defined in Section 6.1H of this Communications Procedural Manual. The current regional response mode criteria are located in Appendix IX of this Communications Procedural Manual. 11.7C An incident response status check will be performed if no unit has arrived on the scene of an incident (Fire and EMS) within 20 minutes of responding to verify help is on the scene or still enroute. Once a unit has arrived on the scene, a check is not required. The following actions will be initiated if no unit has arrived on the scene within the 20 minutes. 1. Attempt radio contact with responders. 2. Page the unit(s). 3. Call the scene by telephone if able. 4. If no contact- Send the appropriate next due unit(s). Contact the appropriate Police to conduct a search for the unit. Contact the Chief of the company ASSIGNMENT OF OPERATIONAL TALK GROUPS 1. An operational talk group shall be assigned by the Communications Center whenever it is essential to maintaining communications for the incident and clearing the dispatch talk group. Operational talk groups will also be assigned as needed for out of county incidents when requested. 2. For incidents (In and out of County) where responders are using incompatible radio systems, an operational patch (if available) will be initiated when requested between the systems at the Communications Center. For in County incidents, a conventional channel will also be assigned (Cumberland Mutual Aid 2 or 3) and patched into the assigned operational talk group to provide communications for units that maintain low band equipment. 4

5 Any unit operating outside of their County should not assume good communications until verified at the incident. 11.8A All operations communications will be coordinated through incident command or OIC until command is established. "Command" shall be assumed when a unit has been designated as such by an incident OIC. The designation will derived from the Municipal Chief number if one is assigned to the municipality. If no municipal chief is designated, then the engine company number utilized in the box number will be used for the command designation. EXAMPLE: Middlesex Twp. Box will be assigned Command 7. Southampton Twp. Box will be assigned Command 52. Should another incident occur within a given municipality or box area in which a "Command" has already been designated, an additional "Command" can be designated. This "Command" will assume the same command number and be designated with an additional alphabetical letter. EXAMPLE: First Incident - "Command 33" Second Incident- "Command 33A 11.8B Assignment of Multiple Talk Groups for Multiple Divisions or Groups. 1. On major incidents, multiple talk groups may be assigned to effect good communications at the incident. Example: Command Operations "EMS" Water Supply 2. Upon determination of the need for multiple talk groups, the Communications Center will assign talk groups. The initial talk group that was assigned to the incident will become the Operations talk group to alleviate any unnecessary VTAC detachment/attachment by personnel working in hazardous environments. Command and any additional assignments will assume new talk groups. 5

6 If talk group assignments require a VTAC/Portable change, any portable that is attached to a VTAC will need detached from the VTAC prior to changing the talk group. Once the talk group selection is made, another VTAC will need activated on the newly assumed talk group. Once the VTAC is activated, the portables that have moved to this talk group will need to attach to this VTAC. 3. The multiple Divisions or Groups will communicate their needs to the established Incident Command. Incident Command is responsible to relaying any requests to the Communications Center via the Command talk group. 4. Command will have to coordinate the use of multiple radios in the Command Area to monitor the additionally assigned talk groups on the scene if they deem such to effect radio communications with the Divisions or Groups and Command. 11.8C County and State Global Talk Groups 1. During large scale and long term incidents involving multiple jurisdictions, the County Global talk groups may be assigned at the discretion of DPS. 2. During large scale and long term incidents involving multiple jurisdictions and State resources/responders, the State Global talk groups may be assigned at the discretion of DPS with the approval of PA-STARNet Operations Center. 6

7 11.9 FIREGROUND STRUCTURE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM The following area identification system shall be standard within Cumberland County and will be utilized as such for apparatus assignments and fireground reports: SIDE / EXPOSURE C Charlie QUADRANT QUADRANT SIDE B Bravo 2 3 SIDE D Delta EXPOSURE B Bravo QUADRANT 1 QUADRANT 4 EXPOSURE D Delta SIDE / EXPOSURE A Alpha Front / Address Side Sides are designated by Letter/Phonetic Alphabet Sides A-Alpha B-Bravo C-Charlie D-Delta. Floor levels are designated as Divisions The interior quads are designated Quadrants STAGING LEVELS The following are staging level assignments used in Cumberland County. A. LEVEL 1 - First arriving engine and truck or squad type service unit will proceed to the scene depending upon local municipal procedures. Additional responding apparatus will stage at a suitable location near the scene awaiting assignment. 7

8 B. LEVEL 2 - (used normally with second alarm response) All apparatus and manpower will report to a staging area designated by incident command and await further assignment. C. LEVEL 3 - Staging of units and manpower at a fire station or other building convenient to the fire scene as designated by incident command ADDITIONAL ALARM/APPARATUS REQUESTS Any requests for additional apparatus shall come from the incident commander or from command. Apparatus may request additional assistance if incident command has not already been established. All non Incident OIC requests will be cleared by the Communications Center through ranking OIC's TRANSFER REQUESTS / APPARATUS FILL INS A. Any requests for transfers will come from the company OIC or incident command. Headquarters will automatically dispatch transfer assignments on a timely basis according to the Box assignment as listed in the response plan. In turn, the Transfer Company will be dispatched on all calls as the company for which they are assigned. B. If assigned units are committed on an active incident (obvious ongoing suppression or rescue efforts occurring) in excess of 30 minutes, Incident Command will be queried regarding the need for any transfers for the involved units. C. If a transfer unit is not provided on the incident run card or specified by Command, Headquarters will utilize the area run card for the station involved as a reference and make a decision on the transfer assignment. Transfers, at a minimum will be a single Engine to any station needing a transfer assignment. D. The Communications Center/Department of Public Safety will initiate or deny apparatus transfers as needed to insure that appropriate response coverage is provided or maintained within the county. 8

9 11.13 ALERTING OF PERSONNEL OF HAZARDOUS SITUATIONS In events where operating situations become hazardous and evacuation of personnel becomes a necessity, or responders need alerted of a dangerous situation occurring, the following procedure is to be followed: Upon notification from incident command, a responding unit, or a phone call reporting a related event, the Communications Center will follow the following guidelines. DANGEROUS CIRCUMSTANCES REPORTED DURING A RESPONSE TO AN INCIDENT: In situations where units are responding and a hazardous or life threatening situation is reported, an immediate announcement related to the event should be made immediately on the Fire Dispatch talk group, EMS Dispatch talk group, and any assigned Operational talk groups. Police services must be alerted immediately also of the threat or incident with these circumstances. No Pagers (Immediate announcement)..(alert tone) "Attention all units and personnel responding on Box 65-77, 98 Irvin Street, there is reported gunfire in the area. Units must stage out of the area and await instructions (An example event) Upon completion of the first announcement, repeat such on the Dispatch talk groups with appropriate pager activations. If airtime permits (not interfering with priority transmissions), a roll call of responding units may be needed for accountability purposes. A mutual talk group (Public Safety talk group) or a patch between talk groups (PD and fire) may need assigned or initiated to aid responders in mitigating the incident. BUILDING EVACUATION DUE TO UNSAFE FIRE CONDITIONS: Upon notification from incident command, the Communications Center will immediately activate the warble tone, and announce the evacuation message on the assigned Operational talk group. 9

10 (warble tone) "Attention all personnel operating in the structure on Box 65-77, 98 Irvin Street, all personnel are to evacuate the structure immediately" Upon completion of the initial announcement, the Communications Center will announce the evacuation message on Fire 1 and Med Dispatch talk group including warble tone. The use of this policy should be limited to critical situations where the lives and/or safety of personnel are potentially threatened FIREFIGHTER DOWN / DISTRESS COMMUNICATIONS PROCEDURES A. General Information Emergency Button Functionality Depressing the emergency button on an emergency capable talk group will cause the following to occur within the radio system. There is no Hot Mic (dedicated open mic after activation) for Fire Service radios. Upon activating the Emergency Button, fire fighters must depress the mic and transmit the appropriate information. There will be a 10 second Hot Mic for the EMS services only. Dispatchers will receive audible and visible notification of the emergency, including assigned radio ID. A second or subsequent emergency button activation on a talk group already in emergency status will only audibly alert on the radio declaring the emergency. Other radios on the incident and the communications center will not receive an audible alert. It is imperative a firefighter who is in a situation that deems emergency button activation on a talk group already in an emergency active state to verbally hail Mayday- Mayday-Mayday to capture attention of command and the communications center. Mobile Radio Functionality: Audible alert and visible indicator display will occur on the radio declaring the emergency, and all radios that contain the affected talk 10

11 group in the profile loaded at the time. The talk group that the emergency is declared will display an asterisk at the end of the alpha/numeric name. If a mobile radio has the talk group in emergency in the loaded profile, but not selected, the audible and visual indicators will activate. To find and participate in the emergency, the user wishing to join must scroll through the talk groups to find the one displaying the asterisk. Portable Radio: Audible alert and visible indicator display will occur on the radio declaring the emergency, and all radios that contain the affected talk group in the profile loaded at the time. The LED indicator blinking in orange will denote the talk group that the emergency is declared. If a portable radio has the talk group in emergency in the loaded profile, but not selected, the audible and visual indicators will activate. To find and participate in the emergency, the user wishing to join must scroll through the talk groups to find the one displaying the blinking orange indicator. Emergency Activation Talk Group Defaulting- Non Defaulting Any activation of the Emergency Button for the Fire Services will cause the radio to immediately default to the Fire-EMS Emergency default talk group which is talk group 16 in the radios. The exception to this are the Ops talk groups two through seven (2-7) where the emergency will remain on that talk group. Any activation of the Emergency Button for EMS Services and the Fire Police will cause the radio to immediately default to their Emergency default talk group which is talk group 16 in the radios. EMS will default to the Fire-EMS Emergency talk group and Fire Police to the Fire Police talk group. B. Incident Guidelines Fire Incident Mayday Declaration If a fire fighter is in distress or in need of assistance due to a lifethreatening situation, the firefighter will activate the emergency button and transmit Mayday-Mayday-Mayday and provide a brief situational status report if possible using the following guidelines using the acronym LUNAR - 11

12 L Location U Unit N Name A Assignment at time of Mayday R Resources/Help needed The Emergency Responder shall then activate their Personal Alert Safety System device. Headquarters will confirm with Command that they acknowledge the emergency and copied the information unless it is obvious Command has acknowledged the event and understands the message provided. Incident Command will communicate with the firefighter and initiate necessary actions. Units operating on the scene will immediately cease transmitting unless they have urgent traffic related to the distress call. Units will await instructions from Command. If needed, Headquarters will intervene and announce Attention units operating on Box, clear the air for mayday transmissions. Specific rescue operations will remain on the assigned operational talk group. Additional talk groups may be requested if needed for suppression activities to assure clear communications for any rescue operations. Caution needs taken due to potential VTAC actions which may jeopardize the victims and rescue operations with regard to obtaining additional talk groups for non-mayday operations. Portables which may be attached to a VTAC may lose connectivity if an associated VTAC is moved to another talk group. Upon conclusion of the situation, Command will notify Headquarters and advise of updated talk group requirements. At that time, Headquarters will clear the emergency from the system. Fire Incident Activations that occur without a verbal transmission for help Activations during an incident that are not followed with a plea for help will be immediately checked by Headquarters. Unit Designation or Alias from Headquarters, verifying your emergency? 12

13 If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and respond appropriately as the conditions require by either clearing the emergency or verifying Command has copied if an actual emergency is occurring. If no contact is made, Incident Command will be contacted. EMS Only Incidents If a unit or portable activates the emergency button during an EMS event, the Com Center will do the following if an emergency message is not provided: Make radio contact with the unit to confirm the emergency. Unit Designation or Alias from Cumberland Med, verifying your emergency? If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and respond appropriately as the conditions require. If no contact is made, the Com Center will page the unit. If the unit fails to respond, the Chief of the unit will be paged and apprised of the activation. The local police will also be made aware of the situation and requested to respond to verify the safety of the unit. Accidental Incident Activations Should a responder accidentally activate the emergency button, the user must verbally advise that it was an accidental activation. Headquarters will clear the emergency from the system. The field user is capable of clearing the emergency after verification with Headquarters of their status. This is accomplished by pressing and holding the side lower button (button has bump sticking out) in and then pressing the emergency button at the same time until the emergency is reset. 13

14 C. Non Incident Related Fire and EMS Activations If a unit or portable activates the emergency button during a non dispatched event, the Com Center will do the following:. Make radio contact with the unit to confirm the emergency. Unit Designation or Alias from Headquarters/Cumberland Med, verifying your emergency? If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and respond appropriately as the conditions require. If no contact is made, the Com Center will page the unit and Notify the Chief of the unit if no contact is made. Fire Police Activations All Fire Police radios will default to their Fire Police Emergency Talk Group for any activations of the emergency button. This Talk Group will only be monitored by the Communications Center during emergency activations. Fire Police Incident Activations The same procedures will be followed for fire police operations as is followed for other users. Incident Command will be contacted if the emergency activation is legitimate or no acknowledgement is received when the unit is called for verification..fire Police Non Incident Actions If a unit or portable activates the emergency button during a non dispatched event, the Com Center will do the following on the appropriate Emergency Fire Police Talk Group: Make radio contact with the unit to confirm the emergency. Unit Designation or Alias from Headquarters, verifying your emergency? If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and respond appropriately as the conditions require. 14

15 If no contact is made, the Com Center will contact the Fire Police Captain or other officer of the unit. The Com Center will accept further instructions at that time from the contact person ACCOUNTABILITY A. Personnel Accountability Report The Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) is a roll call of all personnel assigned to an incident. The roll call is designed to account for the safety of all personnel. PAR will be initiated as requested by the incident commander. Initiation: Incident Command will advise the Com Center to initiate PAR. Incident Command should contact the Com Center by telephone (or radio as a last resort) if they need to verify the companies or units involved at the scene. The Com Center will activate a status timer in CAD for activation at 20 minutes and log that PAR has been initiated. A separate talk group should be considered for operations if the incident warrants PAR. PAR Checks: In 20 minute intervals from the initiation of PAR, the Com Center will contact Incident Command and prompt them that PAR is due on the incident. Incident Command or their designee(s) will either query each unit or company for PAR status or request all units to conduct PAR and report the results to Command. The Communication Centers responsibility is only to alert Command that it is time for a PAR check. Each unit or company will conduct a head count to assure all personnel are accounted for and report back to Incident Command. Once PAR is completed, Incident Command will advise the Com Center of the PAR results for logging purposes. The Com Center will start the 20 minute timer again. Conclusion: Upon notification from Incident Command, the Com Center will deactivate the timer and log the conclusion of PAR. 15

16 B. Incident Timer All FSTR1 & 2 (structure fires) and FBARN1 & 2 (barn fires) Call for Service codes have been assigned a work timer. Each resource to status On-the-Scene of an incident with one of the above CFS codes will prompt the automatic start of a 20 minute timer individually. In 20 minute intervals, the Com Center will advise Incident Command of the duration they have been operating on the incident: Upon notification from Headquarters of the timer interval, Command can determine either to continue or discontinue the notification and advise Headquarters in which fashion to proceed. Example: Command 99 from Headquarters, you have been operating for 20 minutes. Command 99 copies, continue the timer. OR Command 99 copies, no need for further notifications. If the incident timer notification has been discontinued and Incident Command elects to have it initiated again, Command can simply advise Headquarters to start the incident timer. Incident Command will then be notified at the appropriate time intervals APPARATUS AVAILABILITY FROM AN INCIDENT Apparatus will advise "available" when returning from an incident except when placed in-service by an announcement from the Communications Center. An acknowledgement will be obtained for responding units when they are placed in service. Individual Chiefs shall not advise available INCIDENT CLEARED The Communications Center will assume the incident is completed whenever the last units advise "available." Units will not advise "Offthe-Air" or "In Quarters" at any time. 16

17 11.18 GENERAL NOTIFICATIONS/REQUESTS FOR NOTIFICATION The following are general notifications and procedures for notification requests at an incident. A. Police Department Notification The Communications Center will advise the Police of the affected municipality of all emergency calls which apparatus is dispatched unless departmental procedure does not require this. EMS and fire personnel should always be on the alert for situations which may require police department involvement. An police related information encountered during an incident must be relayed to the Communications Center for dispatch to the police. B. State Police Fire Marshal Notification The Communications Center shall notify, at the request of incident command, the State Police Fire Marshal, on Priority incidents. Priority incidents are defined as follows: 1. Any fire incident in which a fatality has occurred. 2. Attempted homicide. 3. Any catastrophic fire. 4. Any fire in which suspects are in custody. 5. Any fire of an unusual nature that may generate higher than normal media attention. 6. Any fire resulting in a loss exceeding $500, Any fire incident involving an injury to a responder or serious injuries to other persons. 8. Suspicious fires that may be part of an arson pattern in an area. Requests for a State Police Fire Marshal which are not of a Priority nature will be made by the incident commander directly to the Pennsylvania State Police. 17

18 C. Bomb Threat and Other Hostile Threat Situations Bomb threats and other hostile threats are a matter to be handled by the police department. When a report of such is received, the Communications Center will: 1. Dispatch a police unit to the scene. 2. No fire or EMS apparatus will be dispatched except when an explosion has occurred, there is a fire, a rescue is apparent, or by request of the fire chief. The Communications Center will notify the appropriate first due fire and EMS chief of the incident. D. Public Utility Requests The Communications Center will notify the utility companies at the direction of the OIC or command. The Communications Center should be advised of scene conditions, utility company name and any pertinent information which will aid the utility company in answering the incident. The Communications Center will immediately notify the utility companies when they receive information which causes them to believe that a situation is occurring which requires immediate notification of such. E. Wrecker Service Wrecker service notification will be handled by the investigating police agency. Fire and EMS personnel shall only make wrecker requests for rescue purposes, disabled vehicles and incidents where police department investigation is not required (vehicle fire). F. Department of Public Safety Notification The Public Safety staff will be notified of any significant event in accordance with the Pennsylvania Emergency Incident Reporting System (PEIRS). 18

19 G. Helicopter/Aeromedical Requests 1. Aeromedical requests will be made in accordance to regional EMS procedures. In the event the primary aeromedical service is not available, the next or subsequent aeromedical service, as listed will be notified. Incident Command will be informed of service availability and flight times to the incident scene. When a landing zone location is determined, a talk group will be assigned for aeromedical coordination. A "Landing Zone" officer (known as "LZ") will be assigned and designated by the first due response area Example: Shippensburg Landing Zone LZ 4 2. State Police State Police helicopters will be notified upon request of Incident Command for any incident other than aeromedical. State Police helicopters are not an approved aeromedical service. In the event of an immediate aeromedical need, medical command can be contacted to request authorization for State Police helicopter use. H. Special Police (Fire Police) Special Police activation should be considered as "automatic" with the dispatch of Fire service units for public safety needs. The OIC of the incident shall allow adequate and reasonable time for Special Police to respond and function at an incident. Only after the arrival of apparatus to the scene and the OIC has determined that insufficient police resources have responded may the request for re-dispatch of the Special Police be considered. For incidents in which traffic control assistance is required by any of the county's law enforcement agencies and the Fire Services are not part of the incident event, Special Police will be activated by company pager(s). Specific Special Police Communications requirements are detailed in Section 14. Announcements for Special Police will be done with an activation of the appropriate pager and 2 verbal announcements of the response. 19

20 I. Hazardous Materials Incidents 1. The Communications Center will initiate notifications of appropriate County staff personnel immediately on all hazardous materials incidents. 2. The county's hazardous materials team will be alerted in accordance to the established Hazardous Materials Response Plan. 3. Incident OIC should advise the Communications Center of the situation at hand immediately upon his arrival to initiate further possible actions as required. J. Search Assistance In the event the Communications Center receives a request for assistance in locating a lost or overdue person, or where a search operation is requested, the Communications Center will notify the search management group. The search management group has been established in accordance with the CUMBERLAND COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN. Any needs related to search assistance will be through this group. K. Red Cross/Salvation Army Notification 1. The American Red Cross will be immediately notified by the Communications Center of any fire in which families or residents could be displaced. Incident Command should assess the situation at hand and inform the Communications Center of the type of need for Red Cross services. 2. Salvation Army Disaster Services will be contacted at the request of Incident Command to provide for food and drink needs for the services involved. The Salvation Army can also provide for emergency placement needs. 20

21 L. Coroner Notification The County Coroner's Office shall be immediately notified of any incident in which a death has occurred. The only exception is when a death has occurred of natural causes and the victim's attending physician is willing to sign the appropriate death certifications. 21